by Larry Brody
Two recent news stories point out the complexity of my favorite city on the Olympic Peninsula.
Yep, I’m talking about Port Townsend, Washington, where Gwen the Beautiful and I moved ourselves, our belongings, and many of our animals, almost eleven years ago, shortly after I had a heart attack and quintuple bypass surgery.
We loved our mountain near the Ozark Mountains town I call Paradise in a certain newspaper column reprinted here at TVWriter™ every Monday. (The most recent one being HERE.) We loved “Paradise and environs,” and we love Port Townsend and its neighbors as well.
But man are they different from each other. Almost as different as the inherent contradictions that make Port Townsend so fascinating.
Here’s Example #1:
Port Townsend woman seeks decriminalization of ‘magic’ mushrooms
Proponents say city could make possession a low priority
In public comment after comment, the message has been read in local government meetings: Decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in Port Townsend.
These fungi, the numerous commenters write, can be helpful, not harmful — even as the Drug Enforcement Administration classifies it as a Schedule 1 illegal drug, making anyone found with it a felon.
Port Townsend Psychedelic Society cofounder Erin Reading, like the rest of the writers, calls on the Port Townsend City Council to pass a resolution that would place possession of these “magic” mushrooms at the bottom of local law enforcement’s priority list….
Read it all at peninsuladailynews.com
Too “hippy-dippy” for you? What about this:
Here’s Example #2
Oldest home in Port Townsend enters market at $2.45M
The oldest house in Port Townsend — a mansion built in 1858 for one of the city’s founding fathers — is on the market, listed at $2.45 million.
Windermere broker Michelle Sandoval has the listing. The mansion was [built] for Enoch S. Fowler, for whom the house is named.
“What I love about the house is that it is true to the nature of Port Townsend, lovingly and respectfully restored. Yet it is completely modern and very high quality. The owner who did the restoration did not skimp. It is a most luxurious place and yet it has really stayed true to being the oldest house in town in the historic district,” Sandoval says….
Read it all at bizjournals.com
Upscale enough for you? There’s more, and eventually I’ll lay it all out here for all to read. The way I see things, the diversity this area offers is just one of the things that make it a special kind of Paradise all its own.
